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IND vs NZ | 2nd Test: Rachin Ravindra wants to keep his intent high to fight the impossible battle

New Zealand are on the brink of a loss, a loss that is likely to come because of a poor showing with the bat from them in their first innings where they were bowled out for 62, their lowest ever Test score against India in the history of the game. Recognising that the battle to draw the game where without any weather interruptions, the Kiwis would have to play out 180 overs or score 400 runs from here on (They are currently at 140-5) is almost impossible to achieve Rachin Ravindra said, “It’s always tough being bowled out for 60, a lot of things went wrong.” “We all strive to be better. We tried to put that sort of stuff behind. It was not our best performance but we knew we have got a second innings and we’ll keep fighting from there,” the left-hander, who was batting unbeaten on two runs said in a press conference at the end of third day’s play in Mumbai. Asked whether he will take in anything from his bowling performance and try and convert those learnings while he bats at the vicious turner in Wankhede, Ravindra, who has taken three wickets in the game and is batting with Henry Nicholls in an 11 run partnership which has taken up 49 balls, said that keeping the intent high would be his and his team’s main motto at the crease on day four. Shubman Gill became Ravindra's maiden Test scalp and he also poached Virat Kohli, getting him played down. “I think I carried an understanding of the surface and what I was doing from when I was bowling to adopting a game plan. It’s important, we keep our intent high. Get into good positions and smother the ball nicely,” said the 22-year-old. He further said that his resistance in the first game which gave New Zealand the famous draw in Kanpur will surely boost his confidence. “Yes, I will take confidence from it but we still have a very, very long way to go. Two days, 180 overs, there’s a lot of cricket to be played.”

IND vs NZ | Axar calls this his dream year, bats for three spinners formula in home Tests

Axar Patel, who has so far picked up nine wickets in the ongoing two-match Test series against New Zealand believes that 2021 has been his dream year. The 27-year-old who made his Test debut against England early this year believes that he is now picking form with the bat too and hence with all three spinners being proper batters, India can continue with the three spinners formula in the home Tests in future too. “Actually, this has been my dream year you can say. The way I bowled in England series and now how the New Zealand series panned out, in between, there was IPL as well, so I can say that this has really been a good year for me personally,” said the left-arm spinner at the end of the daily press conference at Mumbai. In five Tests so far, the Gujarat born bowling all-rounder has picked up 36 wickets. Talking about his goals, “My endeavour is to keep improving and look at areas where I need to get better. All the hard work that I have put in all these years have finally yielded results this year.” Axar who scored his maiden Test fifty in this match and who has contributed really well with the bat in this game particularly, having scored 52 and 41 in two innings, said that the team can now freely think of playing three spinners as he is able to grab his chances with the bat. “The batting coach (Vicky Rathour) and team management have faith in my batting abilities, and they have always told me that ‘you can do it’. Earlier, when I got chances, I couldn't convert my starts but this time when I got chances, I was able to convert. “My batting is benefitting my team and if you see that myself, Jaddu and Ash bhai play as all-rounders, it releases a bit of pressure on our batters, so it's a good sign. As long as I keep contributing it’s good for both me and my team,” he stated. With New Zealand at 140-5, while chasing 540, India have their tail up and will try and finish the game as early as possible on day four.

IND vs NZ | 2nd Test, Day 3: Ashwin puts Blackcaps on brink after punishing batting dominance

India took another emphatic step towards their dominance in the game and series win on the third day of the second Test against New Zealand in Mumbai. They have eliminated the top five batsmen of the Blackcaps batting lineup and are still ahead by a mammoth margin of 400 runs to seek dominance on the fourth day of the Test. They were already ahead in the game and even a batting collapse would not have brought the Kiwis back in the game. That collapse did not come either as Mayank Agarwal was in no mood to waste his form and Cheteshwar Pujara was eager to score some runs with having no real pressure on his shoulders in terms of the team’s situation. Frustration continues for Pujara, Kohli India were way ahead in the game on the third day and lack of runs and game time in the middle would have been one of the reason behind India delaying their declaration or taking a cautious approach in batting. The two main batsmen in focus were Virat Kohli and Pujara, who have spent more than two years of their life without scoring a hundred and their batting numbers have started to make them look like a pale shadow of themselves. Pujara, in particular, was looking to bat with intent as he punched on anything loose by Ajaz Patel and Will Somerville. He was down the track quickly and played with the minds of the spinners to take a strong foot forwards towards the elusive big score. However, as has been the case this year, his error in judgment while playing a flatter delivery off Ajaz Patel got him dismissed in the slip as the slowish delivery gripped and turned ever so slightly to grab the edge of his bat. His departure was followed by a resounding welcome for Kohli by the spectators present at Wankhede Stadium as they would not be hoping to see him again for a long time, at least in the format. Also, the team were in fantastic condition and there was no pressure for him against any bowlers, except the lone warrior in Ajaz Patel. Kohli looked promising and showed his intention of playing with the aggressive approach by taking Somerville over the fence at deep midwicket. He was also decisive in his footwork and was rarely found in no man’s land against spinners. However, just when he too looked set for a big score, an innocuous delivery took the inside edge of his bat and ricocheted to hit the stumps and leaving him with a wry smile which was a clear sign of helplessness from the Indian skipper. Infinite tricks of Ravichandran Ashwin India were not banking on the pacers to do the magical job they did in the first innings and they were at the Kiwi openers from the word go with Ashwin from one end with the new ball. He has had tasted tremendous success against Tom Latham and his variations have always kept the left-hander guessing although he was super in Kanpur. Even there, he was the only bowler who troubled him with his variations in spin and pace. The off-spinner rolled out a perfect mix of slower off-spinner and faster arm balls to deceive Latham into playing down the wrong line. He did not have to play too many tricks to claim Young, who could not provide a solid defence to a sharply bouncing delivery while he was playing a few attacking shots too cleanly. Ross Taylor appeared to have come to the crease with the thought that batting while defending a lot of deliveries was not a viable option and hence he tried to throw caution to the wind. The idea was good but the execution was awful as he picked the worst ball to attack. Ashwin was very slow in the air, so much so that Taylor had to wait for an eternity to have the ball in his arc and his inability to delay the shot produced a top edge that Pujara caught with some struggle. Looking ahead to the fourth day India have just five wickets to take and win the series 1-0 and there are far too much help in the pitch for them and very few batsmen to lead New Zealand’s resistance on such a helpful pitch. New Zealand have the duo of Rachin Ravindra and Henry Nicholls to lead their resistance on the fourth day and they would be looking to at least delay the inevitable if not bring about a miraculous escape.

BBL 11 | Sixers annihilate Stars in season opener, register biggest victory by runs in league's history

The 11th season of the Big Bash League started on two extremes as it saw a brilliant batting performance from the Sydney Sixers which registered its highest ever total in BBL history and 8th in the league’s history to score 213-4 against Melbourne Stars. In the same game though, the Stars registered their lowest score in the BBL history and that too by a huge margin as they folded out for 61 in just 11.1 overs. Their previous lowest total was 99 which was incidentally registered against Sixers only in 2020. For Stars, who were without the services of World Cup hero Marcus Stoinis in this game, it wasn’t going to be an easy chase at all. However, the meek way in which they surrendered was unlike the character shown by their skipper Glenn Maxwell and even the team itself. In the very first over itself, opener Joe Clarke and number three Nick Larkin were trapped by Steve O’Keefe who would go on to pick four wickets in the entire match. From there onwards, the men in green just couldn’t recover as wickets fell one after another. Sean Abbott who dismissed Maxwell in the fourth over of the innings also picked three wickets. Peter Neville the other opener alongside Clarke for the Stars was the highest scorer with 18 off 14 balls. Apart from him, only Hilton Cartwright was able to get into the double-digit for the team from Melbourne. Earlier in the evening, after losing the toss and being asked to bat first at their home ground of SCG, the Sixers started slowly but build on the momentum by the openers Josh Philippe and James Vince. While Philippe scored 83 off 47 balls, Vince got out on 44. Moises Henriques, the skipper of the side who came to bat at number three was unstoppable as he smashed his way to a 38 ball 76, scoring at a strike rate of more than 200. Courtesy of these big scores, the Sixers reached 213 in their 20 overs. For the Stars, Brody Couch picked two wickets while Maxwell and Sam Rainbird shared one each. This win of the Sixers by 152 runs is now the biggest in the history of the league.